In June, the Department of Criminology hosted a one week no-cost immersion into the criminal justice system for high school students from 10 Hillsborough County high schools including the Law & Criminal Justice Academy at Jefferson High School. The program was developed and designed by USF Department of Criminology faculty member, Elizabeth Cass and Assistant State Attorney, Felix Vega from the 13th Judicial Circuit. Police officers, prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges all volunteered to bring the material to life.

Utilizing a mock traffic homicide investigation, students learned how a case proceeds from investigation to arrest and ultimately makes its way before a judge and jury. The week began at the Tampa Police Department's Training facility where students had the opportunity to study a crash scene, learn about traffic accident investigations, participate in field sobriety tests, and drive the simulated impaired driving cart. The day was spectacularly topped off with a simulated car chase/hostage taking /SWAT team demonstration by the Tampa Police Department. Later in the week, students took part in a jury selection exercise, and watched closing arguments from Assistant State Attorney, Chris Castillo and private defense attorney Kim Seace. The week ended in the courtroom of Judge Lisa Campbell who gave the "jurors" jury instructions before bailiffs lead them to the jury room for deliberations.

The goal of the summer program was to provide a positive learning experience to encourage students' interest in attending college and pursuing careers in the field of criminal justice and criminology. We also hoped that interacting with criminal justice professionals would allow students to develop first hand impressions of the system. A student who thanked us for "restoring my faith in the police this week" gave us hope that we accomplished that goal.

CFS/AFSP to hold August Workshops

The Department of Child & Family Studies will cosponsor a couple of suicide prevention & loss events with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in Tampa next month.

MHLP will be hosting its 2016 Continuing Education Forensic Training Series for Mental Health Professionals in August. Instruction in forensic evaluation of adults and juveniles involved in the legal system is complemented with focused training on assessing and managing patients' risk for violence in acute long-term care settings. The Forensic Evaluation and Juvenile Justice Training will take place from August 15-16, 2016. The Florida Adult Forensic Examiner Training will be held from August 18-20, 2016. Both training sessions will be held in the Westside Conference Center. For more information, visit the website(s) above or email CBCSMarketing@usf.edu

CBCS In the News

Police Try to Lower Racial Bias, but Under Pressure, It Isn't So EasyNew York TimesOne such training program is called Fair and Impartial Policing, a course developed with Justice Department financing by Lorie Fridell, an associate professor of criminology at the University of South Florida.

For Spring Hill family, an unconventional trail to recoveryTampa Bay TimesDr. Theo Carroll, a Sarasota psychotherapist and an adjunct professor in the department of rehabilitation and mental health counseling at the University of South Florida, said recovery requires removing addicts from their drug-using friends.

New evidence, lawsuits emergeHeadline NewLorie Fridell, associate professor of criminology, University of South Florida -- your expertise has to do with trying to get to the issue of race on the part of a police officer before

Gun, Badge, CameraFiveThirtyEightA subsequent study in Orlando showed similar results. The researchers are now working on a similar experiment in Tampa. "I think, generally, cameras are going to de-escalate and reduce most serious uses of force, such as firearms," said Wesley Jennings, one of the researchers and a criminologist at the University of South Florida.

Making the Brain Less RacistThe Atlantic"If we did that over and over again, the officers would learn that 'I need to not focus on demographics,'" Lorie Fridell, a criminologist at the University of South Florida and the developer of the training, told The New York Times.

Disaster behavioral health conference set July 29 in OmahaKLKNTV ABC-8 Among the speakers will be Randy Otto, associate professor at the University of South Florida, who is an expert in forensic psychological assessment. He will explore the limits of assessing violence risk, given the tools available today.

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